L to R Syamala, Abrar and Vimal hard at work in MESH Design Studio

A pretty pink and green tablecloth

A zanny single bedspread and all to learn about placements. 

Vimal has really taken to the work asking to come in on Saturday and learn something new.  He has the most horrible leg injury from a truck accident and is awaiting his thrid operation so he is trying to learn as much as possibe before he has to go back into hospital.  Their GMR volunteer is busy making a poster of the methods of screen printing and either of the interns at any time joins him in his stenciling.

Then Sonam Palkit from PAGIR, Leh is still busy finishing of the new products developed with Ashok using tailor’s waste.  Today her focus is hair bands…

Sonam fully focussed

In action on a new idea

The techniques are new and layering of silk promises some very interesting results.

Silk layers and metalic thread

Vimal, Reena and the GMR volunteer Deepak from the GMR project arrived in MESH Design Studio today for their first screen printing lesson and they have already printed something!  They are learning about stencil and enamel printing before settling into the really serious business of photographic screen printing.

Syamala showing Reena and Vimal and Deepak how to make a stencil

Both Vimal and Reena have orthopedic disabilities and they are from low income backgrounds.  We hope very much that they will learn the skill, enjoy the work and set up their own printing unit in the resettlement community where they now live having been moved from a temporary slum when the new airport was built.  Hopefully they can earn their living from this activity by taking local orders and selling through MESH.

Trying it out

Watch the progress.

Sonam at work in MESH Design Studio

Sonam from Leh is also working on some new products with Ashok using tailor’s waste.  Sonam is hearing impaired, following an injury from falling off the roof of her home when she was about six years old.  She works with two other women in the Secmol office of PAGIR in Leh in the Himalayas…and this is their usual view from the workshop window!

View from SECMOL Office in Leh where Sonum usually works

Sonu and the beginnings of the rickshaw idea

Sonu is going back toVaranasi today and then onto Bihar for some time with his family.  It has been a delight having him here with us.  During his stay he received his tenth class exams results; he was disappointed with his science mark but for drawing he scored 96%!  We celebrated with chocolate cake! 

Sonu, designers, interns and staff celebrating Sonu's 96%

He leaves behind some lovely art work which we shall use for screen printing.  Rickshaws as you have never seen them before, trucks and The Charminar will be appearing in our ranges in the months ahead.

 The screen printing set-up is ready.  Two of the GMR trainees cried off at the last minute so we are a little held up with that but I am expecting some very nice products in the coming months judging by the sketches and drawings  prepared by our in-house designer, Syamala, and, intern Jaspreet.

Syamala and Jaspreet are NOT making the cake!

Akanksha and Tushar, the design interns from NIFT are bringing together an eclectic range of home furnishings for the festival season that will be embroidered by the women from Champa.  Thinks animal prints, lovely textures and wonderful jewel-coloured kosa silk.

Akanksha and Tushar, interns - from small sketches lovely products may come!

Today Sonum and Kunzang have arrived from PAGIR in Leh.  Sonam will be working with Ashok on additional products using tailors waste and Kunzang has come to learn about costing and pricing, managing quality control and other aspects of the business side of PAGIR’s production unit.

Sonum at work in the winter sun in Leh

Sonu sketching at Humayan's, Tomb Delhi

Sonu, the young would-be artist from Kiran Varanasi joined Ashok and I in a grand inspirational tour in hot, hot Delhi on Saturday.  Driven by Sushil (in the picture above watching Sonu) we started off in the very early morning in Humayan’s Tomb.  Sonu sat quietly sketching the Affiser Tomb in the lovely gardens whilst I watched the birds and enjoyed the many varieties of trees.   

"Affisar Tomb" is what Sonu was sketching then

Meanhwile Ashok, our design intern from Bethany, practiced using the macro lens on the camera…a first time for him.

Whilst Sonu sketches Ashok clicks with the macro lens

Then we moved on to AkshadamTemple, a new temple in Delhi that is an absolute marvel of stone carving.  We were not permitted to take pictures but I am certain that Sonu would have been inspired by the beauty of the place and the quality of the work.  Ashok and I were certainly taken by a beautiful carved image of a young woman asleep under a light sheet dreaming of elephants, all carved in stone.

 Then we finished our tour in the welcome cool of The Museum of Modern Art which was three floors of inspiration.  Sonu was particularly taken by a few pictures and whilst again we could not photograph anything there was a sense that he had the ideas in his head ready to try out.

 It was a lovely time and for me a great pleasure to accompany two very enthusiastic young people.

 Today Sonu is sketching/painting again and I am hopeful that he will let us use his images for screen printing onto some cotton bags for sale in our Delhi shop.

This is what Sonu is sketching today

Akanksha and Tushar NIFT interns in MESH Design Studio

Akanksha and Tushar, two interns from National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhopal are bringing together ranges for the embroiderers in Champa (see an interview with one of the Champa ladies on page 7 of MESH Newspaper) http://www.mesh.org.in/articles_181919.html.  Expect new things from MESH including clothing in lovely beautiful Little Flower silks. 

Sonu inspired and creating in MESH Design Studio

Sonu is in his final year at school with a desire to do fine arts after school.  He has come to us from Kiran Centre inVaranasi (www.kiranvillage.org) for two weeks exposure to Delhi and life in a design studio.  He usually lives with his friends in Kiran and is still struggling to find his level all alone here inDelhi.  It doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting his art work though.  We are off at the crack of dawn on Saturday to Humayan’s tomb for a bit of sketching before it gets too hot.  Maybe we shall get something that we can screen print onto bags…a great souvenir of Delhi.

Syamala is working with Jaspreet, another intern, on the preparation for a screen printing workshop for a group of young men with disabilities from a project run by GMR (the company that runs most of India’s airports).  We are hoping this will be the beginning of a very good relationship and lots of screen printing experimenting.

Syamala and Jaspreet preparing screens

Watch this space for more.  It is so good to see the place buzzing.

We have been very quiet in the studio for a while but now there is plenty going on. Naazneen is newly appointed in MESH as Operations and Marketing Manager with special focus on domestic markets. Her first task has been to work with our design intern Ashok on a range of double bed covers using a variety of the lovely fabrics already in MESH’s storeroom.

We expect two NIFT interns from the beginning of June for a couple of months and Naazneen is to work with them on a range of embroidered products with festivals in mind so watch this space.

 Then we moved on to look at the bags that Ashok developed in Bethany Leprosy Colony.  Some great new designs again and pretty use of colour.  I love this part, when the waiting is over and we have wonderful new things to touch and model and peer inside. Here is a sneak preview; think chesnuts and fern and the sound of early autumn rain on shiny leaves  

Lovely new colours and .....

and more and ........

… much more to follow.

Hot hot hot

The huge sign at the entrance to Father Muller Charitable Institute lists an impressive array of services all in one campus the one that was missing as far as we were concerned was the Rehab Unit attached to Saint Joseph’s Leprosy Hospital.  There Syamala was to work with the tailors, screen and block printers to produce and interesting new range of products using their usual equipment and skills. 

On Our Way In

Sunita is the block printer at what MESH calls SJM.  She and her twin sister Benita are speech and hearing impaired but that does not stop them from being able to express themselves well and they certainly know how to smile!

Sunita and Benita

Sunita block printed lengths of shot silk which the tailors stitched onto the bottom of a new range of leisure pyjamas….just in time for our new catalogue.

Syamala and Sunita

The New Pyjamas...one of four colours. There is capri length too

Srinivas is a young screen printer mostly accustomed to working on small pieces of fabric with small motifs usually made into banners and greeting cards.  Syamala wanted to show him how to work on lengths of fabric that can be stitched into other products. She had sent ahead a very cheerful pair of chilli and chilli with script motifs that she had designed and the screens were ready for her when she arrived.  Placement provided some challenges as several designs were on each screen but Srinivas soon learned and the resulting kitchen linen is impressive.

Srinivas

There is more to come with several designs on the theme of fancy cakes in process.  Syamala will send the the designs from Delhi and Srinivas will know just what to do with them. 

The First Apron

Then we hope that next spring Srinivas will come and spend a week in MESH Design Studio perfecting his skills and learning how to use another type of pigment.  He is also speech and hearing impaired so MESH Design Studio will send an escort for him for the long, long trip from south western India to Delhi.

Srinivas and Syam .... happy at work!

Hot off the press

Curtains in the making

Faridabad is the first large town as one travels south of Delhi.  A busy industrial town within easy driving distance of Delhi it is growing fast with hundreds and hundreds of new homes built every year. Bharat Mata Kusht Ashram (BMKA) is a small community of people affected by leprosy that is located on a roadside on the edge of Faridabad.  MESH has worked with the weavers there for many years and we stock their products in our shop in Uday Park, Delhi.

Govinda is the married son of members of the colony.  His father is affected by leprosy and his mother had treatment as a young woman long ago.  Govinda dropped out of school during eighth standard as he was quite simply not interested in school.  He has learned to use a sewing machine.

 MESH would like to sell BMKA cotton cloth by the meter and also to offer a curtain making service so we invited Govinda to a curtain making training in MESH Design Studio.

Govinda in MESH Design Studio learning to make curtains

He will be in training for at least one month, perhaps longer and will be exposed to the various kinds of finishes for curtains; linings, heading tapes etc. He will learn how to measure, cut and sew a broad variety of styles of curtains.  MESH Design Studio team will then photograph the range of curtains he can make; teach him to cost for his services and produce a small flyer for distribution in all of those new homes in Faridabad and in MESH shop.

When asked what he would like to take away from this training he says:

                “I would like to specialize in curtain making and use the training to employ one more person.”

 Govinda has two younger brothers both at school.  He tells us that he is making sure they do not drop out of school like he did. 

As Govinda works Hrishi, MESH’s consultant designer is developing a range of curtain fabrics to be woven in BMKA and he is also designing a display unit for the Delhi shop so as to be able to offer those fabrics and subsequent ranges to customers in the shop.  Watch this space for that launch!

Wooden jigsaw puzzles handmade bu Ashish Chand in MESH Design Studio

In late March Ashish Chand and an associate from West Bengal were in MESH Design Studio with Babu from Kshema Rehabilitation and Training Centre (KRTC), Chettupattu, Tamil Nadu to work with Hrishi on a range of bamboo and wooden product.

 Ashish is skilled at working with bamboo and a wizard on the jigsaw.  He is hearing and speech impaired but that does not seem to stop him from understanding and the man who accompanied him could help him with anything that Hrishi could not convey with signs and gestures.

Ashish Chand at work in MESH Design Studio

Last year Ashish worked with Hrishi in MESH Design Studio developing trays and trivets.  This time they worked on a whole range of pen stands using the natural shape and hollow of the bamboo and burning, carving and colouring designs onto the outer surface to create an interesting selection of well priced products that should attract both Indian and international customers.

Ashish also used his jig saw skills to make up Hrishi’s small and amusing animal jigsaw puzzles.

Babu from Kshema Rehabilitation and Training Centre working on a wooden "vase"

Babu is from the other end of India to Ashish, in the far south.  He is a wood carver who works in an institutional based rehab and training unit attached to the rural Catholic Hospital called St. Thomas Hospital.  Babu has a heart condition and joined the unit when his health was at its worst.  He has recently married and we were not sure if he would wish to come all the way to Delhi to work alongside Ashish.  For some years now much of KRTC’s sales have been through MESH especially products designed by TLM Trading’s designer.  With the recession those design services have stopped so KRTC was glad of an invitation to work with Hrishi on these carved and filled motifs.

Different coloured woods for a terrific effect - Babu's work in MESH Design Studio

Think you have seen these designs before?  You are right, they were created by Hrishi for Divya’s cards (see http://www.mesh.org.in/articles_134506.html) and now have a new avatar in wood.  The initial work was done in the studio; fitting the designs into products will take place long distance between, Babu, his Supervisor Mr. Raj and Hrishi by phone and on the internet.

Hrishi(l), Ashish and Babu(r) discussing product finishes in MESH Design Studio

These are products for the winter catalogue…watch out for them.

Brand new wooden "vases" and bamboo penstands fresh from MESH Design Studio